Thursday, April 8, 2010

In Today's Mail: A Nixie Captured!

If you were one of those who made it to Leonard Pitt's reception and illustrated talk last night, then you know what a raucous and fun time it was. If you couldn't make it to the gallery, or if you were among the people who couldn't squeeze in to the packed room, then please come back the evening of Friday, May 7, for another of Leonard's captivating and witty talks regarding his collection of Paris postcards. Like last night's event, the May 7th talk will begin at 6 p.m. -- come early if you can to ensure yourself a seat.

One of the stories Leonard told last night was about how the advent of the postcard helped to redefine libel laws. A young post-office clerk passed around a particularly juicy postcard written by a priest to his paramour. When word got back to the priest, he sued for defamation, and after an appeal, won, thereby extending libel laws to include cases involving the "uncovered letters," as postcards were sometimes called.

All of which is to say that we're certainly not reading a particular Castle in the Air postcard that was mistakenly delivered to us today. But we would be remiss if we didn't share this censored scan of it, because it's got a "Nixie" sticker on it. We talked about the Nixie here not long ago. When the post office couldn't deliver it to the address to which it was sent, they put the nix on it and forwarded it to the only other address that was on the card -- ours!

If you think this might be a postcard you sent, then send us an email and tell us the address written under the sticker. We'll be happy to return the card to you or forward it on to a new address.